


not everything is about volleyball

by fifteen_half



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, Brother Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-17 02:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1370212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifteen_half/pseuds/fifteen_half
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Tobio wants is to get closer to his elder brother. But whenever he tries, the only reply he gets is, "Don't wanna, stuuupid!"</p><p>Tooru just wants his brother to leave him alone. They're not real brothers anyway, and the sight of him reminds him of his mother's misdeeds. The thought repulses him, so whenever the younger boy would come to him, asking for a favor, asking to accompany him somewhere, asking him to help him with his homework, asking and asking and asking, all Tooru says is, "Don't wanna, stuupid!"</p><p>But Tooru isn't cruel. He knows that Tobio is not at fault. In truth, Tooru is just hurt-- hurting. And very, very scared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	not everything is about volleyball

**Author's Note:**

> This... didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so I quickly put an ending and posted it anyway. In any case, I hope it's still somewhat enjoyable!
> 
> And even though I wasn't able to do what I intended to do, thank you [Aeius](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeius/pseuds/Aeius) for the inspiration!

Coming home after the first day of his last year in junior high, Oikawa Tooru is not prepared for what he finds at home.

His mother, usually so calm and beautiful, sits tiredly and haggard in their living room. She smiles at him, greets him with her customary _okaerinasai_ but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. Across from her is his father. He's as still as stone, but that's nothing different. What's different is that his hands are balled tightly into fists on his knees, his shoulders are hunched as if burdened, and that his eyes can't quite look at his wife's direction.

Beside his mother is a boy Tooru's never seen before. He looks bored, like he doesn't want to be there. And to be honest, Tooru doesn't blame him. The atmosphere in the living room is so heavy he's afraid it'll suffocate him.

He feels like running away; away from the oppressive atmosphere, away from the sullen form of his mother, away from the boy that he knows is the center of all of this. But his mother gestures at him to sit down, and his feet automatically obeys.

Once he's seated, she smiles tremulously at him, as if she finds it hard to, as if it's hard for her to look at him. Iwa-chan always tells him that he's sometimes too perceptive for his own good. This time though, he doesn't need it to put this and that together.

The heavy atmosphere, the shamed but furious form of his father, the guilt he sees in his mother's eyes... and the boy. Tooru already knows where this is headed and he doesn't like it one bit.

"Tooru," his mother says, softly, hesitantly, her eyes pleading at him to understand, "This is Tobio. He's your brother."

 

* * *

 

Tobio is two years younger than him, his mother says. She's trying hard to make the atmosphere lighter, but her fake cheer only adds to the heaviness. Tobio himself only looks at the table between them, and for some reason, Tooru is irritated by this.

His mother has been trying hard for _Tobio's_ sake! Why doesn't he show his gratefulness to her? _Look! Look up! Look at me!_ he wants to yell, _Look at me and try to win me over yourself!_

But the boy only continues to stare at the table, as if he doesn't care, as if the sight of _their_ mother begging and pleading for his sake doesn't hurt him. Because the sight of it hurts Tooru. He can't look at his mother like that, doesn't even want to hear her speak like that. He knows his mother has been trying to make eye contact, but he can't. She'll only see the hurt in his eyes and Tooru doesn't want to hurt her with it.

"Tobio will be transferring to your school tomorrow," she says, and without thought asks, "Tooru, will you look after him for me?"

He can't help but gape at her, unable to believe what she's asking from him. But his disbelief is lost to her because she's prodding the boy beside her, "Come, Tobio."

Tobio starts, peels his gaze away from the table and looks straight at him. Iwa-chan always says he's too perceptive for his own good, but Tooru can't quite read the other boy's expression at all.

"Please take care of me," he says, and bows his head at him.

Tooru looks at his mother and sees her smiling gently at the other boy. At the corner of his eye, his father is looking away, as if he doesn't want to be involved. He knows he'll only hurt her, but he isn't sorry when he replies, "Don't wanna, stuuupid!"

Unable to look at the hurt look he knows is on his mother's face, Tooru keeps his eyes on his _younger brother_ , but Tobio's expression doesn't change. Tooru frowns, sticks his tongue out at him, and bolts towards his room.

Deep within him he knows that Tobio doesn't deserve it. It isn't his fault that his mother got tempted, not his fault that he's here in this house now. But Tooru's hurt and very, very scared.

 

* * *

 

A week after living with his new brother, Tooru is somewhat mollified of his fears.

His _new brother_ is all sorts of stupid after all.

One week after transferring, he had managed to pick fights with a few of his classmates and even some of his senpais. He'd even insulted a few of his teachers. He'd slack off a lot in class, eyes often drifting towards the window, completely disinterested in the lectures. He'd even managed to get detention on his very first day for apparently bullying a classmate.

Tobio neither confirmed nor denied any of this though. During dinner, when their mother would _try and try and try_ to get Tobio to tell what happened, Tobio had always kept his silence; his only reply had been, "You can think whatever you like."

Tooru sees what this is doing to his mother. She's frustrated but sad, and he can see in her eyes that she's desperate for help. But his father is hardly there during dinner, and Tooru knows he's still angry about all this.

And Tooru?

Sure, he doesn't like seeing his mother like this. And sure, he'd like to help. But not now; now he's still hurt-- hurting.

Besides, it's not like he and Tobio are real brothers anyway.

 

* * *

 

It starts a month after, when their mother can't get home in time for dinner.

They're silent most of the time, and just when Tooru can't take the awkwardness, Tobio looks at him and asks, "Onii-san, can you go with me to buy--,"

Tooru doesn't let him finish. The moment he hears ' _onii-san'_ he shuts down; because no matter how much their mother wants them to, no matter how sad and frustrated and desperate she gets, he and Tobio are _not brothers._

So he slams his hands on the table, stands up quickly, scowls at _Tobio_ and says, "I don't want to, stuuupid~!"

He gathers the dishes he'd eaten on and dashes towards the sink. The kitchen is behind the dining area, a counter separating the two, peering at Tobio, Tooru finds him eating still, seemingly unruffled. Somehow, Tooru is irritated by this.

He sticks his tongue out at Tobio, even though it's childish.

Deep inside him he knows this is wrong. But he's hurting still, and there's no one he can release this to --not to his kind and gentle mother, nor his strong though absent father-- except the boy whose arrival had started it all.

So whenever the younger boy would come to him, asking for a favor, asking to accompany him somewhere, asking him to help him with his homework, asking and asking and asking, all Tooru would say is, "Don't wanna, stuupid!"

Tooru isn't cruel. He just has no idea how to deal with this all.

 

* * *

 

Nothing much changes even months and months after Tobio's arrival.

Tobio continues to do poorly in school, although there's less fights because his classmates had learned to steer away from the other boy. His mother also still continuously tries to mend the family, but with little to no success. His father, absent even before all this, finds more and more reasons to get home late. And Tooru still can't accept him as a brother.

He tells this to Iwaizumi one day during practice and immediately gets a scowl in return. This is Iwaizumi's normal reaction, so Tooru doesn't mind. Except then Iwa-chan had had to say, "Poor kid. I think I'd run away if you were my older brother."

Tooru is used to the other boy's sarcasm and his seemingly rough attitude towards him. Iwa-chan keeps on aggressively denying their friendship, but they both know the truth.

This time, however, is different. There's _heat_ in the words, and a bit of sting. Tooru stares at Iwa-chan's scowling face in surprise, but the other boy doesn't elaborate.

Cheers suddenly erupt behind them, and they both turn to see what it is. It's the first years in a practice match against each other, and on one side of the net, there's a group surrounding Tobio. But it's not an angry group; they're all smiling and cheering and clapping Tobio on the back. And Tobio...

Tooru has _never_ seen a smile like that on Tobio before.

"He's damn good, your brother," Iwa-chan says.

Somehow, this irritates Tooru so he snaps, "He's _not_ my brother!" more forcefully than intended.

Iwa-chan doesn't even bother to reply.

Tooru is surprised he feels guilty about it.

 

* * *

 

And then one night, everything changes.

As the captain, Tooru had been asked to stay for a meeting after practice. The preliminaries are about to start, and they couldn't afford time wasted. By the end of it though, he'd been so annoyed that Iwa-chan had left him mostly by himself. Half of the meeting had been about what to do with Tobio. The kid's good at _everything_ and does things so naturally it leaves others in the dust-- himself included.

Tooru hardly wants to admit it, but Tobio _is_ a genius. At least in volleyball.

The house is dark when he comes home, so when he toes his shoes off he only mutters the usual _tadaima_ , knowing that no one will reply. Thirsty, he trudges towards the kitchen when he sees a shadow hovering outside the dining area. Fear shoots through him for a moment, before dissipating completely when he realizes it's only Tobio. It's quickly replaced by irritation and he would have made it known until he hears his parents' voice coming from the lighted dining area.

Finding _Tobio_ eavesdropping on _his_ parents irritates him even more, but then he sees how resigned Tobio is, how he stares at the opposite wall as if it didn't exist, how _vacant_ his eyes are... It makes Tooru curious that he starts to listen in too.

"--your brother's sister-in-law, perhaps? You mentioned she's been looking for children."

"Oh, I don't know, dear," his mother exclaims, frustration clearly heard from her voice, "If only Tobio just isn't so hard to handle... I get so much complaints from school it's distracting me from work. I-I," she says, voice hesitant as if pleading for apology, "I'd visit him as much as I could before, to try and raise him properly, but I guess it wasn't enough. I never realized he was this much work."

"We have to think of Tooru too," his father says, "He doesn't seem to like Tobio much, does he?"

Tooru can almost see the rueful smile on her face when she answers, "No. Perhaps I really shouldn't have brought him here."

Engrossed in the conversation, Tooru almost misses Tobio moving away from the dining area. It's dark, but when Tobio turns and sees him there, he can almost see the shock in his face.

Tooru doesn't know what to say.

Tobio looks away then, but after passing Tooru towards the staircase, he stops and whispers, " _Okaerinasai_."

That night, Tooru is unable to sleep.

 

* * *

 

When they're once again left to themselves during dinner, Tooru locks his irritation away and plucks up enough courage to ask, "Why do you fight so much in school anyway?"

Tooru can see he'd surprised Tobio with his question, but when the younger boy looks up at him, it's with a scowl on his face. "What? I don't fight at school. They're the ones who start it."

Honestly, Tooru, too, is surprised that Tobio had answered. So he asks, "Then why won't you say so? If you just explained, then maybe--!" he cuts himself, unable to find the correct words for _'you won't get thrown out'_.

But Tobio just shrugs, "It's too troublesome. No one believes me anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"'Cause they always just assume. I can't help it if I'm born with a scary face."

"Ah," Tooru says, as things click into place. Tobio's always had that scowl on his face, at least whenever he's not playing volleyball. And he's always so tactless with his words; saying whatever he feels, honestly, sincerely,  probably without meaning to offend, but offending anyway.

"Then everything's just one huge misunderstanding?"

Tobio though, just scowls at him and says, "What is?"

Tooru sighs, then smiles ruefully as he shakes his head. Tobio only scowls even more.

"In volleyball, communication is important, right?" Tooru says, grinning at Tobio's frowning but confused face, "You need it to win. Especially for setters like us."

"Right," Tobio agrees confusedly, his frown easing off a bit at the mention of volleyball, "That's why we use hand signals."

"Exactly!" Tooru shouts, startling the other boy. He then leans over the table and pokes the remaining frown off his brother's face, "But you know, not everything is about volleyball. Sometimes, hand signals just aren't enough."

The creases on Tobio's face disappear in surprise at the poke, but once Tooru's words sink in, a confused frown had easily spread across the younger boy's face.

Tooru snickers.

Tobio has never meant to make any trouble after all.

His little brother is just... simply an idiot.

 

* * *

 

So whenever Tooru sees Tobio surrounded by an angry mob, or during practice and Tobio scowls at a senior for missing his monstrous toss, or even at home when his mother would exasperatedly ask Tobio questions upon questions upon questions and all his uselessly adorable brother would do is scowl, Tooru would saunter over beside Tobio, drape an arm around him, and then with a huge smile, say, "Now now now, Tobio-chan! Remember, not everything is about volleyball!"

Then he'd poke Tobio on the forehead, temporarily dispelling the frown, and would cheerfully continue whatever it was he'd been doing as if nothing had happened at all.

It doesn't exactly solve anything, but it sure does dispel the tense atmosphere-- the angry mob, the insulted senior and their harried mother would sigh then, and leave Tobio alone.

Tobio, of course, never has any idea what had happened.

But that's the reason why he's Tooru's uselessly adorable brother in the first place. And sure, Tooru is insanely jealous of Tobio's skill in volleyball, and yes he's still a little hurt about the changes Tobio had brought, but if he looks at things differently, pain hadn't been all Tobio brought.

Because now he gets to drag someone with him wherever he wants to when Iwa-chan can't. Now he can talk to someone about volleyball even at home, because their parents certainly has no interest in the sport. Now it feels like he's got a little puppy following him around, a puppy who would occasionally ask him to, ' _Please teach me that serve!'_ to which Tooru happily replies with a, _'Don't wanna, stuuupid!'_   without feeling remorse at all. Of course said puppy would frown and pout adorably, but it's all part of the game because Tooru knows that Tobio will never resent him for it.

Why?

Because he had asked, and Tobio simply said, "Because you're my brother."

Seriously. What an idiot, right?

So yes, he may resent Tobio for his skills in volleyball, skills Tooru knows he'll never achieve no matter how hard he tries. And yes, Tobio had brought about painful changes in his life, changes that still hurt even today. But because of Tobio, Tooru also found a friend.

"You're having too much fun at this," Iwa-chan suddenly says, watching Tobio glare daggers at Tooru, "Why don't you just teach him the serve? I mean, I know he's not your ' _real brother_ ' and all," and from his voice one could hear what he thought of that, "but he's a teammate now. It'd be useful if he could--,"

"First of all Iwa-chan," Tooru cheerfully interrupts, prompting Iwaizumi to bristle in annoyance, "I never said I'd _never_ teach him. He's a setter, he should focus on that properly before learning other things. And secondly," he says, turning to Iwaizumi, aggrieved, "I'm his _elder brother_! Isn't there a rule somewhere that states that elder brothers should lord at least one thing over their little brothers?! The idiot's a genius, if you can't tell! He'll probably surpass me as a setter pretty soon, and if I teach him that serve then--OW! Iwa-chan, what the--!"

" _First of all,_ " Iwaizumi smugly says, holding another ball threateningly, " _You're_ our setter now! Even if he's a teammate, you can't say he's better than you!"

"But it's the truth!" Tooru cries, eyeing the ball warily.

Ignoring his kinda-friend's reply, Iwaizumi continues, "Second," he says, smirking wickedly, "You're scared, aren't you?"

Taking an unconscious step back, Tooru asks guardedly, "What do you mean, scared?"

Relishing the moment, Iwaizumi's grin widens as he explains, "You're scared he'll outgrow you! You're scared that once he learns your killer serve, he'll stop following you around like a lost puppy! You're scared," Iwaizumi says, amused but affectionate, "That he'll stop wanting to be your little brother."

Carefully watching his kinda-friend's face, and snickering to himself when he sees shock and then realization dawn on Tooru, Iwaizumi nonchalantly continues, "Not that that's surprising and all. I mean, all you do is boss him around--,"

"That's not true!" Tooru immediately denies, "I've been looking out for that idiot ever since I--! Ever since... since I realized that he really is just an idiot. He's just so uselessly adorable that I... I--,"

Hitting Tooru's head lightly, then keeping his hand there, Iwaizumi grins at him and says, "I'm just pulling your leg, you idiot. I've seen his face whenever you stop him from getting mobbed. That kid," he says, nodding at Tobio, "would be more than willing to go to the moon and back for you. I never realized it till now, but you've been doing a good job," Iwaizumi grins, then teasingly adds, " _onii-chan_."

When Tooru flushes, something that Iwaizumi rarely sees, Iwaizumi moves away from him and laughs and laughs and laughs.

Tooru pouts at him, "Iwa-chan. Shut up."

"Don't develop a brother complex now, Oikawa!" Iwaizumi cries, still laughing, "Although it's probably too late for that! I wonder if you blush just as fiercely when Kageyama calls you _'onii-chan'_? No, wait. You probably want to be called something like _'onii-sama'_ or _'aniue'_ , right? Or maybe something like _'aniki'_ or  _'Tooru-nii'_?"

Mumbling an insult under his breath, Tooru frowns at Iwaizumi, "He doesn't call me any of that! And he only called me ' _onii-san_ ' once."

Iwaizumi raises a brow at that, certain of a sordid story behind it. But he ignores it for now and asks, "Then what does he call you?"

" _'Tooru-san.'_ "

"What?" Iwaizumi exclaims, more than a little amused, "That's lame! Don't you want to be called _onii-san_ again or something?"

"Of course I do!" Tooru yells, then he deflates. "Most of the time he calls me _'senpai'_ though. See! If I teach him the jump serve, what if... what if--OW! Dammit, Iwa-chan! Where do you get those anyway?!"

"You're an i~diot!" Iwaizumi says, ignoring Tooru's pain. Looking at him exasperatedly, Iwaizumi snorts as he fondly says, "Not everything is about volleyball, you know."

At the words, Tooru quiets down, thinking. He smiles. And when he looks up to thank Iwaizumi and finds him walking towards the rest of the team, Tooru squawks indignantly and follows his friend, whining the rest of the way.

Tobio may have come into his life in the worst way possible, but if he looks at things differently, Tooru can see what Tobio really is: a gift, a friend, a brother.

They may have started in the worst way possible too, but now they're changing things and they've got the rest of their lives to look forward to.

Plus, there's still volleyball! And like hell he'll teach Tobio the jump serve! Because even if he is his little brother, geniuses still annoy him after all.

And speaking of geniuses...

"Senpai! Please teach me the--,"

"Don't wanna, stuuupid~!"


End file.
